Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-11-02
NEGRO sUpEBsrIrIONs.
Darkies Who See an Omen
in Nearly Every Animate Object.

ln Nearly Every Animate OBJECT.
the belief has prevailed among the
uthern negroes for many years that
the hand of dead friend Will bring
continued prosperity to Its possessor,
and no doubt if the many colored grave
yards in that section were made to give
up their dead the skeletons OF not
few would be found to be minus the
right hand. The Southern blacks also
believe that the big toe of a deceased
friend, carried on the person, will keep
away disease, and that the toes of an
enemy can be used as charms to con-
jure their living enemies. Thus il is
they originated the lines:
wid dis honey toe,
III bring dem woe,
For daylight in de mornin'
Voudoo doctors--and there are plenty
of them in the Southern States-carry
on an extensive traffic in human bones
and other portions of the body. They
use the skull To perform mystic cere-
mOny for the sick, or to bring luck to a
poverty stricken family; the ears are
employed in another ceremony, the out
come of which is to find out what your
enemies are saying about you, and the
other bones all have a mission to per-
form while the voudoo Is humbugging
his victim. The voudoo doctor Is US
ually naturally smart darky, with a
good flow of conversation. and as much
inventive genius as a Bowery conf
dence man. In Washington OF late tbs
ddoos have become rather scarce, as
the police arrest them as Yagrants
whenever they put IN an appearance.
The country negroes in South Caro-
lima, Georgia and portions of Florida
have a very pretty and somewhat poeti-
Cal superstition. During the stiffness
of the night, when the gentle swaying
pine trees are singing their weird re-
QUEENS, whole families will sit about
their cabin doors and listen To this
music of the forest In its changing
melody they hear the voices OF the dead
friends predicting good or evil for the
future or revealing secrets of the
tomb.
No reward could induce the negro
surfman on the North Carolina coast
to walk along the beach at night, es-
pecially during a storm, when the
lightning Is flashing and the huge
whlte-capped breakers come sputtering
In on the sandy beach. They imagine
they can see III the phoSphorscent light
the forms of sailors who were lost at
sea, riding In astride of the huge bill
lows. On account of this superstition
it has been found impossible to induce
negro coAstmen to enter the life-saving
service, no matter how we'll adapted
they may be for the work. The tedious
night parol along the desolate seashore
Is what they object TO. The average
seashore negro would almost rather die
than TO encounter the vague form of a
Ion RI al In ha nrf or
the beach.
There are many minor superstitions
among the colored people. If COW
stops in front OF house and bellows it
/ is sure sign that some one on the
premises Will die. If the COW bellows
twice the party marked for dissolution
will die in two days, two weeks or two
months. Should the animal below five
times, which is a rare occurrence, q
death will occur IN less than one week.
When a cock enters the house and crows
therein, it means that the family will
have visitors. To crow Just outside the
door indicates that the residents of the
house will be suddenly called away on
a mission. Sometimes an overfed hen
will make a sound which resembles the
faint Growing of a young rooster. This
is regarded as an evil omen, and the
luckless hen Is always decapltated
when the owner is a. all superSJitiou5.
Scintists say the sound Is caused by
Indigestion. The darkies have a verse
they repeat in this connection. 1t is
this:
A whistling woman
ii And Growing hen
II VIII never come
! To any good end
The owl usually boots three times.
When this uncanny bird forgets itself
and increases the number of boots TO
four or five, the plantation negroes re.
gard it as an omen of sickness, starva-
tion or death. To kill a cat means that
the person who did the killing will
have seven years of bad luck. To catch
a water snake on your fishing line is a
sure sign that your enemies are trying
TO entrap and klll you. Thus the
negro says:
II Catch snake.
~ Let him 20,
For death Is comm
Sho and snO.
To see flock of crows hoverlng
about your house Is very bad sign,
and to drop your Bible while going tC
church Indicates that the devil Is afteI
1 you. To see three white horses at the
same time is an omen of death, and tO
find toad frog in your path is Ger,
tain sign that a marriage will shortly
take place in your family. The aver,
age Southern darky sees an omen fol
good or evil in nearly every animate
| and InanImate object. and they believe
in these Cmens almost as religiously as
l. - 81 III